The present invention pertains to exercise equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to resistance-type exercise apparatus having pivotable and rotatable exerciser supports.
There are many forms of resistance-type exercise equipment on the market today. In general, resistance-type exercise equipment has historically been categorized as either "machine" or "free" weights. Exercising with free weights normally requires an individual exerciser to balance the weights as the weights are lifted and lowered throughout the range of the exercise movement. When exercising with free weights it is important that the exerciser stabilize their body prior to and while lifting the weighted resistance since the exerciser alone must balance the weights throughout the exercise movement. If the exerciser is unable to or fails to stabilize themselves while engaged in lifting free weights, the results can be both unsafe and injurious. The exerciser can easily hurt themselves straining to regain control of the weights or, failing to do so damage the weights and surrounding environment with the falling weights. Exercising with machine weights on the other hand usually does not require an exerciser to balance the weights being lifted. Machine weight training equipment normally restricts the range and direction of the weighted resistance movement to a single plane. Thus, the machine weights inherently provide stabilization of the weights for the individual exerciser, obviating the exerciser's need to balance and stabilize the weight. For this reason, resistance-type machine weights are generally viewed as being a safer form of resistance-type weight training than free weights.
While machine weights may be safer to use, machine weight training does not train or exercise the muscles used to stabilize the body. The muscles exercised and trained when using free weights are the same stabilization muscles are used in walking, bending and other sport exercises. Exercisers concentrating on machine resistance-type training may therefore find themselves ill-prepared for the stability requirements and demands found in actual real-world sports activities such as hockey, basketball, baseball, football, etc. The lack of stabilizing muscle training and strengthening gained by the machine weight exerciser can and often does result in the machine weight exerciser suffering injuries when engaging in other activities.
Thus, there currently exists a need for resistance-type weight training equipment that offers the exerciser the safety of machine weight training equipment and the stabilizing muscle training and strengthening provided by free weights. Those concerned with these and other problems recognize the need for an improved resistance-type exercise apparatus.